Biography
As Assistant Attorney General in the Special Litigation Section of the Alaska Department of Law, Mike Schechter (Class of 2000) draws upon knowledge and skills from the UW Department of Geography on a daily basis. Representing the state in major civil litigation matters, his undergraduate background provides him with a common language to communicate with surveyors, cartographers, wildlife biologists, and environmental consultants. Schechter notes that “Many (if not all) of my cases draw directly on skills I developed as a Geography major at UW.” For example, he is currently working on a dispute between the State of Alaska and the United States regarding boundaries near the Arctic Ocean, where he is applying his training as a geographer to analyze maps, geographic naming conventions, cartography, survey data, and historical records. In addition to his work as with the Alaska Department of Law, he enjoys the many opportunities that life in Alaska has to offer, including hiking, fishing, and even biking in the snow during Alaskan winters!